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An Indigenous couple
marries on the beach at Assateague Island National Seashore
and Assateague State Park, jointly managed by the National
Park Service and the Maryland Park Service. (Photo used with
the permission of Desirée Shelley Flores)
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The artist George
Catlin proposed the idea of national parks in 1841, in his book
Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the
North American Indians. Ten years before, Catlin had set out
for St. Louis to see the United States' new western lands.
In 1832, he began a journey that took him 1,800 miles up the Missouri
River. All along the way, he met and sketched Native tribes and
individuals where they lived. Through these travels and interactions,
Catlin grew concerned that the expansion of the United States would
threaten the Indigenous nations and the beautiful wilderness and
wildlife of the land. In the Dakotas, Catlin wrote that this world
should be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government
. . . in a magnificent park, . . . a nation's park, containing
man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's
beauty!"
In 1864, the federal government began to act on Catlin's vision
when it granted Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant
sequoias to the state of California to be "held for public
use, . . . inalienable for time." In 1872, the United States
pioneered a different modelwhen it established Yellowstone as a
national parkperhaps because the Wyoming, Montana,
and Idaho territories had not yet been organized into states. The
National Park Service was created by the Organic Act of 1916, signed
into law by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25. On this 104that
National Park Service Founders Day, we recognize and celebrate the
preservation and conservation efforts of the National Park Service.
The National Park Service protects 400 areaslands and waters
in each of the 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of
Columbia that total 84 million acres. Iconic parks include the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Everglades
National Park, Yosemite National Park, and the National Mall and
Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C. WrangellSt. Elias National
Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest park. The National Park
Service also protects more than 121 million museum objects; 68,000
archaeological sites; 27,000 historic structures; 2,461 natural
historic landmarks; 40 national heritage areas; and 17,000 miles
of trails.
Although the word wilderness has come to mean areas uninhabited,
and largely unchanged, by humankind, in fact hundreds of Native
sites are located on National Park Service lands. Yellowstone alone
was cleared of its Shoshone, Bannock, Crow, Nez Perce, and other
Native peoples by the treaties of Fort Bridger and Laramie, signed
in 1868, before the park was established; Department of the Interior
policies enforced by the U.S. Army during the 1870s and '80s;
the Lacey Act of 1894, which prohibited hunting within park boundaries,
including traditional tribal hunting rights; and Supreme Court decision
in Ward v. Race Horse (1896), which determined that the creation
of the national park and the Lacey Act took precedence over treaty
rights.
The Supreme Court overruled the Race Horse decision in 1999, after
a challenge by the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, although
tribal rights continue to be argued in state courts. And today the
National Park Service works with Native partners to preserve archaeological,
historic, and natural sites. Collaborations include the Tribal
Preservation Program, American
Indian Liaison Office, and Ethnography
Program. In many parks, Native American experts interpret Native
sites for the Park Service and its many visitors. For Founders Day,
the museum has asked three individuals affiliated with National
Park Service Native sites to share their experiencestwo old
hands who helped create greater roles for Native staff members and
communities, and one young interpreter whose career will bring changes
we can only imagine.
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Park Ranger Otis Halfmoon
(Nez Perce). Big Hole National Battlefield, Wisdom, Montana.
(Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
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"One of the biggest challenges was getting
the Park Service to say that almost all its sites have a tribal
story."
My name is W. Otis Halfmoon. I was born in 1952 in Lewiston, Idahotwelve
miles away from my hometown of Lapwai, Idaho, on the Nez Perce Indian
Reservation. My father is Richard A. Halfmoon. My mother is Nancy
Jackson Halfmoon. On both sides of my family, I have ancestors who
fought and died in the Nez
Perce Campaign of 1877.
In the ways of the Nez Perce people, I have had three names bestowed
to me. When I was a young boy, my name was Koosetimna (Water Heart).
Then when I was a teenager, I was given the name of Peopeo Talmalwiot
(Leader Pelican). When I became an adult, my mom gave me my present
name of Pahkatos Owyeen (Five Wounds). The last name was "official"
because my family had a huge giveaway.
I was raised on Nez Perce homeland, reservation land, and ceded
land. My father took me to the mountains and taught me the ways
of fishing, hunting, and gathering foods. He also taught me the
spirituality of the mountains, waters, and elements of nature. Even
as a young boy, I went with my dad to the sweat lodges to listen
to the older men, and as I got older, to participate in the sweat.
As a teenager I participated in the war dances and ceremonial dances
of the Nez Perce. I learned the songs from the older Nez Perce singers.
It has to be stated that my father was one of our leaders with the
governing body called the Nez Perce Tribal Executive. He also instilled
in me the importance of getting an education. I received my BA from
Washington State University.
Back in 1965, my father and his friends were tearing down this
old structure. Soon, an Anglo guy showed up and told my dad and
the rest of the crew to stop tearing down the building because the
National Park Service was going to create a new site. At that time,
my father was the chairman of the tribe, and he had never heard
this news. Once he was back in his office, he delegated a couple
of the members to research the project, and they found it was true.
The tribe contacted Senator Frank Church to inquire into it. To
make a long story short, the Tribal Council decided to endorse the
project, and that was the beginning of the Nez
Perce National Historical Park. The main intent behind the site
was to interpret Nez Perce history and culture, Lewis
and Clark, and the missionaries that came into Nez Perce homeland.
As a teenager, I used to go to "the park" to listen to
the Anglo interpreters talk about my people. I got a kick out of
it, because sometimes those stories were really changed. I knew
my tribal history, and the interpreters didn't like having
this teenager correct them. That was my first exposure to the National
Park Service, and it did get me thinking that I could do this work.
In the mid-1970s, I applied to be an interpreter for Nez Perce
National Historic Park. The requirements were some college credits
and knowledge of Nez Perce culture. They hired an Anglo person over
me. When I followed up with the superintendent, he told me I wasn't
selected is because of my college transcript: My grades were good,
but I didn't have any Native American history or literature.
I was shocked. When I went to college, I wanted to learn more about
the White People. I already knew how to be an Indian! Anyway, in
1990 I was hired into the National Park Service as an interpreter
at the Big Hole National
Battlefield near Wisdom, Montana.
My Park Service career was varied. From Big Hole I transferred
to the Big Horn Canyon
National Recreation Area on the Crow Indian Reservation as an
interpreter in their Visitor Center. Then I was asked to be the
first unit manager at the Bear
Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana. This was the opportunity
I was waiting for, because this site, like the Big Hole National
Battlefield, was all Nez Perce stories and the Nez Perce War of
1877. From there I was promoted to Idaho unit manager for the Nez
Perce National Historical Parkagain, protecting Nez Perce
sites on my homeland.
I was content until I was recruited by Gerard Baker to be his tribal
liaison for the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, where
my main responsibility was to get the Indigenous tribes to talk
about their encounters with the Corps
of Discovery of 180506. Easier said than done. Many
tribes, including mine, were not happy to remember this history.
But it led me to encourage them to tell our side of these encounters.
Through the years, it has been Anglo ethnographers, anthropologists,
etcetera, telling our stories. I realized that's what I was
doing all along: telling our side of the stories.
This concept was so easy to understand, it is amazing how much
pushback I received from some of the older Anglo individuals within
the Park Service, the Old Bulls. But in Santa Fe, as tribal liaison
for the National
Trails System, then as the tribal liaison for our Washington,
D.C., office, I was gaining allies. I used to point out to the Old
Bulls that they spent big bucks on non-Indian "Indian experts"
to give presentations, but they expected the tribes to do it for
free. This was not right. Some of those Old Bulls said I was an
AIMstera member of the American Indian Movementbut I
knew it was time for a change.
During my career, and whenever I went to training, I kept in contact
with other Indigenous Park Service employees, and I put together
a mailing list I called the NPS Tribe. I knew I was stepping on
toes when an older Indigenous employee told me to remember who paid
me. But I was American Indian first, National Park Service second.
One of the biggest challenges in all of this was getting the Park
Service to say that almost all its sites have a tribal story. These
stories should be told, the good and the bad. In some cases, traditional
lands were taken and the tribes had to fight just to enter and gather
medicinal plants for the people. Tribal consultation was needed,
and listening sessions had to be initiated with the impacted tribes.
My argument to the superintendents was that the sites had rich stories;
including the tribal stories would make them even richer.
I had successes, but I also had my losses. The Park Service is
an institution that has a hard time with change, and its history
of working with tribes has a lot to be desired.
Ultimately, I reached out to other Indigenous employees, and we
started the Council of Indigenous Relevancy, Communication, Leadership,
and Excellence (CIRCLE). We had the support of some powerful members
in the National Park Service in Washington, and these allies got
us limited funding to start. Our idea was that if we were going
to create change in tribal consultations, we must start with early-career
professionals and win them over. These individuals would be the
future superintendents. CIRCLE is still going strong, and I am pleased
to say that it will continue on in the 21st century.
I encourage tribal people to work for the National Park Service.
The Green and Gray is not so bad! You will see some beautiful country
and have the opportunity to experience new adventures. You'll
have the opportunity to tell our story and that we are still here.
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Park Ranger Roger Amerman
(Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). (Courtesy of Roger Amerman.)
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"I worked hard to tell a complicated story.
Even when I was off the clock, I was still thinking of how to add
to the story of my park."
My name is Roger Amerman. My Indian name is Aba Cha Ha (High Above).
I'm an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
I live on the Nez Perce Reservation of Idahomy wife's
communitybut I was raised in Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon;
and Pendleton, Oregon. I graduated from Pendleton High School.
In the 1980s I worked for the National Park Service on a contract
basis as a science technician doing scientific avian and botanical
surveys on the Little
Bighorn National Battlefield. In 2015, the Park Service aggressively
recruited me to be an interpreter at the Whitman
Mission National Historic Site near where I grew up.
My professional title was Park Ranger, Interpretive Staff. My primary
responsibility was to convey, in a balanced manner, the complex
pre-statehood history of early 1800s missionary work among Cayuse
Indians in the Inland Northwest , the history of early British and
American trading companies in the Pacific Northwest, and the lifeways
and attitudes of the Cayuse Indians. I was tasked with telling about
the complex events that led in 1847 to tense, resentful, and angry
Cayuse Indians killing Marcus and Narcissa Whitman at the mission
they established on the Oregon Trail. Those events include the exposure
of Cayuse peoples to disastrous American pandemic diseases, and
to condescending and righteous missionary rhetoric and attitudes.
Early colonial encroachment in the Inland Northwest caused dramatic
engagements and changes to Native American lifeways. The result
was terrible and violent and ended with a proud, free horse culturethe
Cayuse peoplesbeing under siege and aggressively subdued,
followed by the quick organization of statehood for Oregon and Washington.
It is paramount and respectful that the voices or narratives of
the deceased Native ancestors be heard by the American public and
understood. We insult visitors by telling biased, one-sided, mythical
renditions of history. As National Park Service interpreters, we
are conveying the soul of the nationa sacred responsibility.
Historically, the National Park Service often told stories strongly
anchored in the perceptions and experiences of colonial peoples
and their descendants. In reality, the full storiesespecially
ones that involved Indigenous peoplesare often very difficult
and much more complex. Thus, the Native American or minority story
was until recent history usually diminished to be a backstory to
the grander colonial narrative. In the last 25 years, the National
Park Service has tried to tell a more balanced version of American
history and the Native perspective. Most of the time, however, the
new story is still told by Park Service employees who are colonial
descendantsnot deeply involved in Native American culture,
perhaps not motivated to engage the Native story to the same degree,
and challenged to convey a thorough and accurate Native perspective.
I think Native interpreters steeped in their own tribal cultures
are inclined to go the extra mile to educate the public about other
vantage points of an historical event or issue
Native employees have developed strategies and tools to convey
the history of Native peoples, tools and strategies non-Native employees
may never have learned. Diligent Native American employees can provide
the depth of commitment required to try to tell a very complex story
and history accurately. Employment in the National Park Service
can also be a very transient affair. I don't think a lot of
Park Service employees stay long enough at any one site to really
learn the Native story or engage with contemporary Native descendants
and find out their perspective. People are busy aspiring to transfer
to another park where the grass is greener.
Interpreters are also charged with telling the story of the modern-day
descendants of historical communities, and their status and state
of affairs in current times. The history of their ancestors, good
and bad, has a profound influence on modern communities' status.
It is not easy for non-Native Park Service employees to research
these topics or engage with contemporary Native American communities.
It is easier to let it slide.
When I think of a highlight from my experiences, what comes to
mind is a partnership with the Pendleton
Round-Up staff. It brought together National Park Service employees
from the Whitman Mission National Historic Site and Nez Perce National
Historic Monument and the members of the Umatilla Indian Reservationpeople
from the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla tribes. With the help
of a very supportive superintendent, I was instrumental in coordinating
the one and only time my park was actively involved and highlighted
at the world famous Pendleton Round-Up, which is well attended and
includes more than a dozen tribes from the Pacific Northwest and
British Columbia. Plus, it was in my hometown! We were in a very
positive modern-day setting, engaged with the descendants of Cayuse
peoples. I felt it to be an historical timeline of sorts.
For obvious reasons, telling the American public and Christian
community about the mixed and hard effects on tribal peoples of
Manifest Destiny, early missionary work with the Indians, and aggressive
and destructive elements of American colonialism is not ever easy.
I felt I had a lot of depth to add to the National Park Service
and my park. I did not, however, feel that some of my co-employees
valued my ideas and efforts to go the extra mile in conveying the
story of our site. This could be very disappointing. I am highly
educated, I am very knowledgeable of the American and Native American
history of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, and I worked
extremely hard to tell a complicated story. Even when I was off
the clock, I was still thinking of how to add to the story of my
park.
Yet I've experienced a variety of professional opportunities
in my life, and working for the National Park Service Interpretive
Program is the most memorable and fulfilling. I would recommend
the Park Service professions to any Native American who is an enthusiast
of history, rural areas, natural resources, scenic beauty, and engaging
the public. If you like working with Native peoples, many of our
western parks are adjacent to or near Indian reservations and other
Native communities.
As a ranger with National Park Service, I met people from every
state in the United States and from countries all around the world.
Our National Parks are remarkablerespected, treasured, and
valued worldwide. True gems in this United States.
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Werowocomoco Ancestral
Lands Intern Connor Tupponce (Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe).
(Courtesy of Connor Tupponce)
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"Our ancestors have entrusted us with the
duty to protect the lands that make us who we are and define our
past, present, and future."
My name is Connor Tupponce. I come from the Upper Mattaponi Indian
Tribe in King William, Virginia, as well as the Chickahominy Tribe
in Charles City, Virginia. I was raised in Glen Allen, Virginia,
and I currently live back in my tribal community in King William,
Virginia.
I have been longtime friends with Cindy Chance from the Captain
John Smith National Historic Trail. She advised me of an internship
with one of my tribe's sacred sites, which is now part of the
National Park System. I am a Werowocomoco Ancestral Lands individual
placement intern, currently working out of Colonial
National Park at Jamestown
and Yorktown, as
well as the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail at the site
of Werowocomoco.
I believe it's important for Natives to work on Native sites,
because it allows full transparency from the Park Service side for
area tribes to see the day-to-day operations of their historical
and sacred sites. It is more important that we as Native people
look after these sites, because our ancestors have entrusted us
with the duty to protect the lands that make us who we are and define
our past, present, and future.
A very vivid memory that will always stick with me from my time
with the Park Service is my first experience at Werowocomoco. The
power and strength I drew from being on the site, knowing its history
Chief Powhatan's headquarters during his encounters with the
English colonists at Jamestown and its spiritual significance to
my family, will be a feeling I could never forget.
My biggest challenge within the National Park Service so far has
truly been not getting caught up in the moment while on site at
Werowocomoco or Jamestown. It is very hard to stay on task when
you're a person like me where, most days, I will be looking
around, imagining all the history of these sites.
To other Natives interested in this kind of career, I would say
that it is such a great opportunity to visit, protect, and oversee
plans for our own traditional lands that are protected within the
National Park Service. It is such a unique workplace where, on my
end, it is education, more than work. Native people in the National
Park Service are working to guard what our ancestors fought to build,
and it is our duty to carry on that legacy and educate others on
our perspective on national parks.
I am very grateful to the National Park Service as well as Conservation
Legacy and AmeriCorps
for allowing me, in this internship, to oversee my tribe's
sacred site in a way where I can learn as well as educate others.
Dennis W. Zotigh (Kiowa/San Juan Pueblo/Santee Dakota Indian)
is a member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan and San Juan Pueblo Winter Clan
and a descendant of Sitting Bear and No Retreat, both principal
war chiefs of the Kiowas. Dennis works as a writer and cultural
specialist at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
in Washington, D.C.
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